I’m sitting here watching the sun come up this morning as it gently snows, only slightly covering our ground with it’s white blanket and I’m trying to find words.

It isn’t particularly beautiful yet as it really isn’t enough to even hide all of the green grass, but it’s finally starting to feel like my favorite time of year. We’ve had a lot of strange weather these last couple of months- days so cold you’d swear winter was just one day away, others so warm that we’d have to open our patio doors to cool it down inside (no, we still haven’t turned our heat on).

I was having a real issue getting in the Christmas spirit as I mentioned on Friday but this morning, I think it’s finally truly here. I woke up not knowing what it was like outside, simply carrying on as usual- spent 10 minutes stretching, got a warm glass of water and opened the curtains. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I was to see the snow. I immediately opened our doors and just stood there, breathing in the fresh snow air. I couldn’t have had a more peaceful start to my Sunday.

While most people I know will be spending their time inside and rushing to and from the car when they do have to leave, I’ll be spending as much time outside as I can. I live for this weather and I can’t wait to lace up my merrell boots, layer my thick scarves around my neck and zip up my Canada Goose coat. It’s especially nice when I come home to a pot of this root vegetable soup. See what I did there?

But seriously. This is one of my favorite soups to make during this time of year for quick, easy and belly warming lunches. I like to make it on a Monday and then eat it the rest of the week with grilled cheese sandwiches, toasted tomato and cream cheese sandwiches (try it. so good.), or a bagel.

I have a pretty serious love of most root vegetables. They’re sweet, hearty, full of nutrition but so inexpensive. When they’re thrown together with a little butter, broth, onion, garlic and herbs, they become the very definition of comfort. This soup has the added benefit of being insanely cheap to make which is always a good thing around here. I can’t comment on prices where you live, but here, at my local market, basically all root vegetables (except parsnips for some reason) are pennies. Typically I’ll buy the big bags of ‘seconds’ for carrots and potatoes which can end up costing me $2 for 15 pounds of potatoes and $2 for about 10 pounds of carrots which will last us at least 3 weeks. Rutabagas run for anywhere from 50 cents to $2 depending on the size and I can always get a few pounds of organic sweet potatoes for $3. Herbs this time of year are dirt cheap for huge bunches of them, onions and garlic are always pennies and, if I don’t make my own broth, I just use little organic cubes of broth base which is about 50 cents.

Basically what I’m saying is A. if you have a market and don’t use it- start. And B. If you don’t regularly cook with root vegetables, start. They’re incredibly healthy, delicious and you’ll save a ton of dollars.

Happy Sunday beautiful people! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram and, if you make a recipe, tag your photo #thepretendbaker so I can see what you’re whipping up!

An easy, healthy and budget friendly soup to keep you warm all winter long.

Ingredients

2 TBSP butter

1 large onion, diced small

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

½ TBSP fresh thyme leaves

½ TBSP fresh rosemary, minced

1 TBSP fresh sage leaves, minced

4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped*

1 medium rutabaga, peeled and chopped*

3 small/medium parsnips, peeled and chopped*

1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped OR 1 large potato, peeled and chopped*

8 C chicken or vegetable broth

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper, to taste

optional : ¾ cup cream, any %

optional: 1 cup shredded asiago or parmesan cheese

optional: 2 tsp honey

Instructions

In a large pot with a lid, heat butter over medium-high heat. When the butter begins to foam, add the onion along with a heavy pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and herbs, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.

Add the carrots and rutabaga along with the broth, increase heat to high and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover with a lid and allow to simmer for 20 minutes or until the rutabaga is almost completely soft.

Add the sweet potato/regular potato and parsnips. Cover with the lid again and continue to cook for 10 more minutes or until all of the vegetables are easily pierced with a fork. Remove from heat.

Using either an immersion blender or upright blender, blend half of the soup until smooth, leaving half of it chunky. Add apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper to taste and, if desired, the honey.

If using, stir in cream and cheese, return to the heat and warm through.

Serve warm, with crusty bread or your favorite sandwich/bagel.

Notes

Try to chop your vegetables roughly the same size so that they cook evenly. You don't have to be perfect- I never am. Just try!I prefer to chop mine in to bite sized pieces. The size of the vegetable chunks will determine how long they take to cook. Do not peel and chop your potato until just before you need to add it to the soup to prevent it from browning before cooking.Soup will keep in an air tight container in the fridge for 5-7 days.To make this vegan friendly, use olive oil or coconut oil instead of butter, agave instead of honey and either skip the cream/cheese or use your favorite non dairy cream.

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I’m Amanda Reynolds. A wife, cook, baker, pretend picture taker and lover of all things fall.
There is something magical about taking simple ingredients and creating a comforting, cozy meal or delicious, homey baked good. There is little else that can ease my stress or lift my spirits more than the act of creating something with my own, small hands. Read More

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I’m Amanda Reynolds. A wife, cook, baker, pretend picture taker and lover of all things fall. I hope you’ll follow along as I cook delicious healthy food, try to live a more compassionate life and hopefully start each day a little better than we were yesterday.